"Working for the success of our students and community through better education. -Robert W. Werden

Guest Blog: Triad Community Unit School District #2

Like many schools in Madison County, Triad CUSD #2 is working hard to keep up with the high demands placed on public education today. We’ve kept our focus on 21st Century Learning Skills, personalized learning and student growth while maintaining a balanced budget. Triad is fortunate to have supportive parents, teachers and communities that place a high value on education.

Triad’s enrollment continues to grow. The current kindergarten class is the largest in Triad’s history, and this year’s total enrollment is the highest since 2007. Keeping students on track to graduate is one of our district’s goals. The Illinois School Report Card, which will be released to the public on October 31st, shows data of our continued growth and improvement in several areas.

As technology devices have become more mobile and affordable, the district’s plan to increase the number of tablets and laptops in each building with the goal of becoming one-to-one in grades 2-12 by the 2020 is on target. Starting the 2017-18 school year, students third grade through 10th grade are one-to-one with a Chromebook. Teachers are using technology to be more creative in their lesson planning, to increase student engagement, and to assist students in taking more ownership of their learning. See if you know any of our 34 Google Certified Educators.

The Triad Staff embraces innovation and creativity in the classroom by taking part in a self-directed professional development program called TRIADvances. #TRIADvances is our new technology-infused professional development program that represents a shift toward more individualized support aligned with the Danielson Evaluation Framework and the SAMR Technology Model for teachers.

A digital badge system rewards teachers for going above and beyond commonly held standards for personal and professional learning. Five instructional coaches and two technology instructional coaches have been added to support our professional development goals this year. Please take a look at the badges and teacher lessons that have been earned during initial pilot.

Within our classrooms, students have opportunities to gain 21st century skills above and beyond the three R’s. Beginning in 4th grade, students have access to computer coding classes which continue through the middle grades and culminate at Triad High School with Project Lead the Way courses in engineering & computer science.

Beyond the school day, our communities, staff and parents generously support the district’s extracurricular programs. Starting at the elementary level, students can participate in STEM programs and a coding club. At the middle school level, teachers encourage students to expand their day by joining teams and groups that add experiences in the areas of academia, the fine arts and athletics. When students reach the high school, they have even more opportunities to showcase their talents or develop more interests by joining one or more of the 21 athletic teams and 48 clubs, some of which are created and led by students.

Reading about Triad initiatives, staff and student highlights are one thing… seeing it is another. We encourage you to reach out to our district & school social media accounts on Twitter (@triadnews) and Facebook (facebook.com/TCUSD2) and see the pictures and videos that are shared on a daily basis. If you ever want to know what is happening at Triad on any given day, you can log on to Twitter and follow #TriadProud. That is where our students, staff, faculty, and administrators provide a wealth of information about the great things happening here every day.